Matt Beaudoin of Mystic Knotwork Named Connecticut's 2020 Small Business Person of the Year

Matt Beaudoin of Mystic Knotwork Named Connecticut's 2020 Small Business Person of the Year

Leading what is described as the first and oldest knot shop in the nation, Mystic Knotwork’s President & CEO Matthew Beaudoin has been named as the Connecticut’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U. S. Small Business Administration. The award coincides with 2020 Small Business Week, being celebrated this week in September.

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CT's Paid Family Leave Program Nears, Launches New Explanatory Website

CT's Paid Family Leave Program Nears, Launches New Explanatory Website

Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Paid Leave Authority have announced the launch of a new website – CTPaidLeave.org – with the goal of supporting all Connecticut residents to understand their roles, rights, and responsibilities based on Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFMLA), described as the most comprehensive in the nation.

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Marketing Competition for Teenage Girls A Success of Connecticut’s COVID Summer

Marketing Competition for Teenage Girls A Success of Connecticut’s COVID Summer

One of the bright spots in an otherwise unsettling summer for a few dozen Connecticut 6th -12th grade girls was the time spent participating in a virtual marketing competition known as Camp Erio. The focus was on deeloping a business idea or product that must work to solve the problem and/or improve the lives of people being negatively effected by this problem. The results: impressive.

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Libraries Provide Critical Services for Working Low-Income Families, Particularly During COVID

Libraries Provide Critical Services for Working Low-Income Families, Particularly During COVID

Access to public libraries is especially important for low income working families across Connecticut, “because libraries provide information on social services and job opportunities, free internet and computer access, and a range of free programs, community meetings, and even 3-D printers,” according to a new report issued by Connecticut’s United Way organizations.

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Connecticut Families Face Growing Gaps, Challenges in Day-to-Day Financial Stability

Connecticut Families Face Growing Gaps, Challenges in Day-to-Day Financial Stability

The day-to-day fiscal reality was troubling before the pandemic for a growing number of Connecticut families, as newly released data reflects. The pandemic has likely made it worse, and it likely to have a continuing adverse impact, according to officials at the United Way organizations in Connecticut.

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Local Arts Organizations to Receive Boost from Hartford Foundation Initiative

Local Arts Organizations to Receive Boost from Hartford Foundation Initiative

The newly launched Catalyst for the Arts capacity-building program is designed to assist arts organizations - facing severe financial losses due to COVID-19 - in developing sustainable models in the uncertain new environment and promote collaboration. A partnership led by the Hartford Foundation is driving the initiative.

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Summer Texts Help Students Reach College in Uncertain Times

Summer Texts Help Students Reach College in Uncertain Times

The Connecticut RISE Network, a New Haven-based community of public high school educators working together to help Connecticut students succeed in and beyond high school, had a busy summer. The group’s annual Summer Melt texting campaign tripled in scope, regularly in touch with 1,838 students who graduated in June from six Connecticut school districts.

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Connecticut Data Indicates Screening Youth in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems for Trauma is Practical, Useful, and Effective

Connecticut Data Indicates Screening Youth in Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems for Trauma is Practical, Useful, and Effective

More than 60% of youth nationally report direct exposure to violence, crime, or abuse in the past year, according to data highlighted by Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut (CHDI). The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase rates of trauma exposure. An analysis of evidence from screening efforts in Connecticut suggests that trauma screening is feasible, and helpful for providing effective services.

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Nominees for Connecticut Book Awards Named; Virtual Awards Event in October

Nominees for Connecticut Book Awards Named; Virtual Awards Event in October

The 2020 Connecticut Book Awards, a program of the Connecticut Center for the Book, an affiliate program of the Library of Congress and a core program of Connecticut Humanities, will be held virtually at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, 2020. The awards honor the best books written in the past year that have specific ties to the state.

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